Many years ago our garden was being whipped by the wind and so we decided to plant a row of bushes to protect it. Later, we built a small feedlot south of there. A row of trees next to the bushes made sense to keep snow out of the feedlot and the cattle comfortable. We have been buying seedlings from the soil office fundraiser for as long as I can remember. Those people do a great job promoting soil conservation. It must be frustrating for them. The tradition of farmer as master over the land usually trumps the idea of working with nature instead of destroying it for short term gain.

It is too bad that the people at the soil office are having their work destroyed by a related government agency. Yesterday I discovered several trees had been shredded by deer. We had watered, weeded, and mulched those trees for years and they had finally taken off. Now they are torn to shreds.

I’ve come up with a few simple measures that could not only save lives and money, but also aid the hungry.

Many taxpayer dollars could be saved if the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) were restricted from jurisdiction over private property. When deer are on our property they should be subject to our rule not the rule of the state. Did you know it is illegal to sell harvested deer meat? Restaurants in the United States that serve venison, import it from New Zealand. Dumb.

Then there are all the hungry people who get food stamps to buy groceries. I remember back in my days in the mountains of western Montana, going to apply for food stamps. Even before the Spotted Owl scam, jobs were pretty scarce at times in timber country. I looked at all that paper work and walked out. I lived with a couple guys who could shoot straight and I could help carry, so we survived on a diet that lacked the diversity of a grocery store.

It is incredible to me that an animal that costs $4 billion and 200 lives a year in vehicle crashes is managed to provide sport for a tiny minority. That we need a license from the state to shoot a deer should be shocking to people in a free country.

We’ve spent $4 trillion on a war on terror that hasn’t impacted as many Americans as the deer. In fact, much of that $4 trillion acted as a recruitment tool or incitement, not as a deterrent. Without the incentive of our air bases in Saudi Arabia, 9/11 very well could have never happened. And our reaction to it was the most costly part. I’m not trying to discount the threat of jihad, I’m only offering perspective on another problem caused by excessive government power.

I couldn’t find a solid number on the cost of deer damage to crops and residential plantings, but even without those added, one motorcyclist hitting a deer on the interstate should be enough that our government should not only stay completely out of the deer management business, but should encourage any hungry person to seek one for their freezer at any time.

It would be fine with me if the DNR stuck to enforcing trespass laws. That would take care of all the environmental issues they are presently responsible for. Individual people should be accountable, not an easily manipulated bureaucracy.

For My Swedish friends. Who can appreciate great music (ate lunch to this today. It was a gift from Richard Taberna, who lived in sheep-herder wagon and expanded the hole in his Gibson through wear) He also taught me the Basque yell (ask):

Jazz on the tube reminded me and I had to post this here, from the great documentary “Jazz on a Summer’s Day.”

Busy hands are happy hands. Harvest time. Couldn’t be happier. Haven’t even figured the soybean yields we finished Friday night. Thank God the radio quit working in the tractor. The BS that is surfacing about The Donald’s uncouth behavior is the most obviously orchestrated manipulation of Churchill’s view of an electorate I can think of. But either way… a 45% tariff on imports? How about calling it what it is, a gift to unions and theft from consumers. Or maybe he was just joking. Hahaha.If our government isn’t the laughing stock of the world, it is the crying stock. I leave out Hillary because she isn’t worth the paper, and this isn’t on paper.

I’d hate to own a bumper sticker company right now. “None of the above” just doesn’t cut it when we are struggling to be positive. I’ve shied away from the presidential election in this column because my optimistic side wants to believe it doesn’t matter.

If you’ve used my short reading list (The Law, 1850) you’ll know that Frederic Bastiat rightly points out that in a nation with law, elections should be of little consequence because law applied in its proper use restricts government to preserving the rights of individuals as long as there is no right taken from someone else to that end. All the other functions of society can best be guided by free association in a free market.

The reason the presidential election has become so prevalent in the news is because there is so much at stake in this “advance auction sale of stolen goods,” as H.L. Mencken describes elections.

People seem flabbergasted that out of 320 million Americans we are now faced with choosing between The Donald and Hill. There are actually 1,910 people (I assume they are people) who have filed with the Federal Election Commission. But the media only sees fit to present two for our perusal. I guess there might be one out of the 1,910 who is literate and would stand by his oath, but with all the loot that’s at stake in this auction there is not much chance we will ever know who that is.

Since government has evolved into a force of theft (democracy), the good people have decided to stay out of it. They are productive in the private sector instead of sticking their noses into other peoples’ business. They don’t see a need for forcing people to buy “alternative” energy that the market has determined to be too expensive. They don’t see a need to tell other countries how to run their own affairs and they don’t see a need to tell people here at home how to live their lives either.

But politicians truly believe that bureaucrats and committees can manage society better than an aggregate of millions of personal choices. They believe totalitarianism can provide greater prosperity than freedom.

That ignorance of economic principles is what drives them to seek public office. And the belief that productive endeavors further the good things in society better than government edict is what keeps the good people out of the political realm and on the job.

I haven’t watched any of the “debates” because my time is too valuable, but the word is that a school yard brawl is more civil and productive and the debates only reflect on the unsuitability of the candidates and the so-called moderators.

But maybe these people are exceptionally suited to an office that has evolved from executing constitutionally legislated law to crime boss.

No matter what there is some wasteful project for everyone. Conservatives will, no doubt, think space will not be exploited with private funds because, like liberals and the welfare state, they want someone else to pay for it.

I say, sell the space program to someone who has decided to pay for it themselves. Theft is wrong.

Why the Next President Must Invest in NASA

Our address is Dumont but we live in the country and most of the time we go west to shop in Hampton. Whoda thunkit that after seeing Lionel Hampton live in  Central Park back in 1970 I’d end up calling Hampton my home. Even though a snooty teacher called Dumont “loser town” during the swimming pool bonding argument, I don’t blame the entire town of Hampton. Moving to Iowa was the greatest decision I ever made. I hope nobody else finds out about it. Anyway here is a taste of what a together band sounds like. Hampton, indeed!

Today the statists seem to panic. They expose Donald Trump hot mike groping comment. Ho about we get past the Clinton oral sex in the Oval Office and the Kennedy philandering before we decide how important a ten year old infantile brag might be.

Actions speak better than words.

A story in the War Street Journal today had federal agents persuading local police to drive through parking lots at gun shows and using licence plate readers to identify the owners of cars at the shows. Well I haven’t done anything wrong, right?

Dawnie sang the Donovan song, Colors, at the Ho Down for my birthday tonight. The line: “Freedom is a word I rarely use without think’n,” has huge meaning. 99% of people who use the word “freedom,” don’t think about it.

Some do, though.My dad and I both thought the best way to benefit our country would be to vote for someone like Tom Harkin. We are on such a downward spiral, a vote for… heck… anybody would hasten the rebuilding process. After the collapse.

In the article the ACLU is collaborating with Gun Owners of America to fight this scourge. Oh Yeah. That is what I call an alliance.

Get out your guitar and play along: